LNG

Chart Industries, the US equipment-maker for liquefied natural gas and other clean energy and industrial gases markets, said its technology enabled the delivery of first LNG to the New Fortress Energy production project offshore Altamira in the Gulf of Mexico.

Honeywell, the US technology group, has agreed to acquire the liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment business of global leader Air Products for $1.81 billion in an all-cash transaction.

Morocco is moving ahead with plans for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and several more FSRUs in the future as part of an expansion in natural gas imports amid hopes of more production of gas from discoveries onshore and offshore the North African kingdom.

Chart Industries, the US equipment-maker for liquefied natural gas and other clean energy and industrial gases markets, reported a record backlog of more than $4.3 billion as LNG orders continued to flow from North America to China.

Chart Industries, the US LNG equipment-maker and industrial gases company, has received a key order from the Cedar floating LNG project being developed in the Canadian Pacific province of British Columbia.

Chart Industries, the US LNG equipment-maker and industrial gases market player, has held a formal opening ceremony for a “jumbo” cryogenic tank manufacturing facility in Theodore in the southern US state of Alabama.

This plant is the second built by Chart in Theodore and will manufacture the world’s largest shop-built cryogenic tanks with capacity of up to 1,700 cubic metres.

“The tanks manufactured at this site will be used for propellant storage for the aerospace industry, hydrogen and LNG storage for marine and power, gas by rail and for many other applications in the sciences and decarbonization industries,” explained Chart.

The facility, known by Chart as “Teddy 2”, has direct access to waterways and railways, providing customers with lower freight costs and faster transportation to site.

Jobs creation

Chart added that this expansion also contributes significantly to local job creation and economic development efforts for the state of Alabama.

“We’re thrilled to officially expand our presence in Theodore, Alabama with our ability to offer the world’s only shop-built cryogenic tanks of this scale,” said Jill Evanko, Chart’s Chief Executive and President.

“This expansion further supports our customers through increased capacity and scale as well as lower freight costs and shorter lead times,” Evanko added.

“We look forward to continuing to hire from the strong, skilled workforce in Alabama,” stated the CEO.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey was a guest at the ribbon- cutting ceremony and praised Chart for its contribution to the further economic development in Mobile County.

“Chart Industries recognizes both the strength of local engineering expertise as well as our advanced manufacturing and workforce capabilities,” Ivey said.

“We’re looking forward to Chart’s expansion in south Alabama, creating new jobs for our region,” the Governor declared.

Maritime and aerospace

Mobile Chamber President and CEO, Bradley Byrne, said he was delighted by the Chart expansion in Theodore.

“With the capacity to fabricate the world's largest shop-built cryogenic tanks, Chart’s Teddy 2 facility brings significant job creation and economic development for Mobile County,” said Byrne.

“Chart's investment not only highlights our skilled workforce, but it positions Mobile as a hub for innovation in aerospace, maritime and the clean energy industries,” Byrne stated,

In its most recent earnings Chart said global end-market demand continued to be strong in 2024.

Atlanta, Georgia-based Chart reported in its fourth-quarter and annual earnings that there were more than $21 billion in identified potential orders in its commercial pipeline for the next three years.

Chart issued the forecasts in the fourth-quarter and annual earnings statement as it also outlined the growing benefits of the takeover of the UK engineering group Howden.
Chart’s earnings statement showed a record fourth-quarter backlog of $4.28Bln, supported by record quarterly orders of $1.21Bln. 

Chart Industries Inc., the US equipment-maker for the liquefied natural gas and other clean energy and industrial gas markets, said it and recently received a series of LNG orders from the US and overseas.

The orders include one for Chart’s Integrated Pre-Cooled Single Mixed Refrigerant (IPSMR)® liquefaction technology for two modular Trains of a multi-Train international project not previously mentioned in the order list of the Atlanta-based company.

A second order was awarded for IPSMR liquefaction technology for a mid-scale plant in the Asia-Pacific region and a third was for a North American small-scale LNG venture including nitrogen-cycle technology and associated equipment.

Fuel stations

“There were various other LNG infrastructure-related orders, including tanks, fuelling stations in Europe and for Morocco’s first LNG regasification units,” Chart explained.

The company was additionally awarded repair and service work at a Middle East LNG project.

“As anticipated, we continue to see strong market and award activity across the four pillars of our LNG strategy, including ‘Big LNG’, small-scale and floating LNG, infrastructure and service & repair,” stated Jill Evanko, Chart’s Chief Executive and President.

“Not only do our recent orders cover all four LNG categories, but they include commercial synergy wins with both Chart and Howden content,” said the Chart CEO in reference to its UK acquisition completed in 2022.

“Further, our LNG commercial pipeline remains strong as we see a clear shift in customers’ preference for our modular solution which drives multiple awards across many years as projects are developed,” Evanko added.

Chart recently posted solid third-quarter results including record operating income and backlog of orders.

The company’s earnings performance was also helped by its acquisition of UK engineering group Howden for cash and shares at a purchase price of $4.4 billion a year ago.

After buying Howden there were complementary additions to the offering including highly engineered fans, compressors, rotary heat exchangers, steam turbines and other air and gas-handling products.

Chart’s LNG processing technology is a market leader and adds to its highly engineered equipment for small to industrial-scale LNG and other plants such as air-cooled heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers and ethylene storage tanks.

Chart Industries, the US designer and manufacturer of engineered equipment for liquefied natural gas, clean energy and industrial gas markets, has received a Korean Gas Safety (KGS) certification and approval for liquid hydrogen bulk transport trailers.

Chart Industries, the LNG equipment and industrial gas technology company, has closed the sale of the subsidiary Cofimco to a London-based private equity firm as divestments continue to pay down debts while Chart will now be a customer of Cofimco.

The purchaser of Cofimco was PX3 Partners in an all-cash transaction for around $80 million.

PX3 Partners said it was pleased to acquire Cofimco, a leading provider of engineered air-moving solutions used in demanding industrial cooling applications.

“The transaction represented the second investment from PX3’s inaugural fund and draws on PX3’s transatlantic reach and global DNA, while leveraging the firm’s proven corporate carve-out skill set,” said the firm.

Bespoke products

Headquartered in Italy, Cofimco is a leading designer, manufacturer and seller of axial cooling fans and related services.

“Its specialised and bespoke products and services are distributed to a global and diversified customer base across more than 60 countries and support their industrial processes with mission critical heat-control solutions, ensuring that they can operate safely and continuously, including by reducing thermal pollution,” explained PX3.

“Cofimco’s products and services are deployed in demanding heat-generating processes in a wide range of end markets, including energy and power generation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), industrials and LNG,” it added.

PX3 said that Cofimco was a trusted and globally recognised brand with proven, patented products and technologies.

The company benefits from a large installed base and a strong aftermarket sales model, with Chart Industries remaining a customer of Cofimco following the transaction.

PX3’s investment in Cofimco aligns closely with the three pillars of its investment strategy.

“Through its customer centricity and energy efficient products, the company benefits from two of the transformative themes that PX3 seeks to underwrite, namely Compete Smarter and Planet First,” it stated.

“Furthermore, it operates in the branded light manufacturing and building tech segments of industrials, two of PX3’s areas of focus,” it added.

Benefits

PX3 said that Cofimco would benefit further from PX3’s global network of deep relationships and its expertise in helping businesses grow internationally across Europe, North America and Asia.

“Following our investment in Filtration, we are excited to announce the acquisition of Cofimco, a global market leader in engineered air moving and cooling solutions,” PX3 concluded.

PX3 stands for “purpose, passion, and performance” and is a pan-European private equity firm that targets companies operating within select segments of the business services, consumer and leisure, and industrials sectors with strong business fundamentals.

“PX3 is committed to supporting Cofimco and its management team to drive transformative growth internationally and operational improvement,” it said.

Chart Industries Inc., the liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and industrial gas and energy technology company, posted solid third-quarter results including record operating income and backlog of orders.